Phelan Davidson Cao 1991

Students' Multiple Worlds: Negotiating the Boundaries of Family, Peer, and School
Cultures
Author(s): Patricia Phelan, Ann Locke Davidson and Hanh Thanh Cao
Source: Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Sep., 1991), pp. 224-250
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
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Students' Multiple Worlds:
Negotiating the Boundaries of Family, Peer,
and School Cultures
PATRICIA PHELAN, ANN LOCKE DAVIDSON, AND HANH THANH CAO

Stanford University
This article presents a model of the interrelationships between students'family,

peer, and school worlds, and, in particular, how meanings and understand-
ings derived from these worlds combine to affect students' engagement with
schools and learning. In addition, the modelfocuses attention on students' per-
ceptions of boundaries between worlds and adaptation strategies they employ
to move from one context to another. We use a typology to illustrate four pat-
terns we have found among 54 students in four desegregated high schools as
they move across settings: (1) Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions; (2) Dif-
ferent Worlds/Boundary Crossings Managed; (3) Different Worlds/Boundary
Crossings Hazardous; (4) Borders Impenetrable/Boundary Crossings Insur-
mountable. Unlike most other approaches, the model we present is generic. It
transcends ethnic, achievement, and gender categories to consider multiple
worlds, boundary crossings, and adaptation for all students. PSYCHO/SO-
CIAL PROCESSES, ADOLESCENTS, HOME/SCHOOL/PEER RELA-
TIONSHIPS
On any given school day, adolescents in this society move from one
social context to another. Families, peer groups, classrooms, and
schools are primary arenas in which young people negotiate and con-
struct their realities. For the most part, students' movements and ad-
aptations from one setting to another are taken for granted. Although
such transitions frequently require students' efforts and skills, espe-
cially when contexts are governed by different values and norms,
there has been relatively little study of this process. From data gath-
ered during the first phase of the Students' Multiple Worlds Study, it
appears that, in our culture, many adolescents are left to navigate tran-
sitions without direct assistance from persons in any of their contexts,
most notably the school. Further, young people's success in managing
these transitions varies widely. Yet students' competence in moving
between settings has tremendous implications for the quality of their
lives and their chances of using the educational system as a stepping
stone to further education, productive work experiences, and a mean-
ingful adult life.
Patricia Phelan is Senior Research Scholar, Center for the Research on the Context of
Secondary School Teaching, School of Education, Stanford University. Ann Locke Da-
vidson and Hanh Thanh Cao are graduate students, School of Education, Stanford Uni-
versity.
224
Phelan/Davidson/Cao Students' Multiple Worlds 225
This article describes the Students' Multiple Worlds Study and the
framework that has evolved during the first year of the investigation.1
Our purpose is twofold: first, to describe family, school, and peer
worlds, the interrelationships between them, and, in particular, how
meanings and understandings combine to affect students' engage-
ment with learning; second, to understand students' perceptions of
boundaries between worlds and adaptation strategies they employ as
they move from one context to another. We use the term world to mean
cultural knowledge and behavior found within the boundaries of stu-
dents' families, peer groups, and schools; we presume that each world
contains values and beliefs, expectations, actions, and emotional re-
sponses familiar to insiders. We use the terms social setting, arena, and
context to refer to places and events within which individuals act and
interact. Students employ cultural knowledge acquired from their fam-
ily, peer, and school worlds in social settings and contexts. Social set-
tings and contexts may be found within the bounds of any one world
(e.g., a student having dinner with family members), or they may in-
clude actors from various worlds (e.g., students interacting with
friends in classrooms, or friends visiting in each other's homes). In the
latter case, people in the same social setting may or may not share the
same cultural knowledge acquired from the constellation of their in-
dividual worlds.2 The terms boundaries and borders refer to real or per-
ceived lines or barriers between worlds.
Prior research generally has focused on families, peers, and schools
as distinct entities. We know that any one can affect powerfully the
direction in which adolescents will be pulled. For example, dynamic
teachers, vigorous schools, and programs targeted to override the
negative effects associated with low socioeconomic status, limited mo-
tivation, and language and cultural barriers can produce committed,
interested and academically engaged individuals (Abi-Nader 1990; Ed-
monds 1979; Heath 1982; Johnson 1981; Joyce et al. 1989; Rutter 1979;
Sharan 1980; Slavin 1988; Slavin and Madden 1989; Vogt et al. 1987;
Walberg 1986). Likewise, research on peer groups has described the
potency and force with which members pull young people toward the
norms of groups (Clasen 1985; Clement 1978; Coleman 1963; Eckert
1989; Larkin 1979; Ueda 1987; Varenne 1982). We know, too, that fam-
ily indices such as socioeconomic status and parents' educational lev-
els are important predictors of students' engagement with educational
settings (Jencks et al. 1972), as are cultural expectations and beliefs
(Clark 1983; Erickson 1987; Fordham 1988; Gibson 1987; Hoffman 1988;
McDermott 1987; Ogbu 1983, 1987; Spindler 1987, 1989; Suarez-
Orozco 1985, 1987; Trueba et al. 1982; Trueba 1988).
In other words, we know a great deal about how aspects of peer
groups, families, schools, and teachers affect educational outcomes.
But we know little about how these worlds combine in the day-to-day
lives of adolescents to affect their engagement with school and class-
226 Anthropology & Education Quarterly Volume 22, 1991
room contexts. Thus far, there has been almost no attempt to under-
stand how students' multiple worlds interact with one another, or the
processes young people use to manage, more or less successfully, the
transitions between various social settings. Steinberg et al. (1988:43)
also note this neglect in educational research: "Virtually absent from
the literature are studies that examine student and contextual influ-
ences in interaction with each other."
In this study, our focus is on the individual as mediator and integrator
of meaning and experience. This approach is in contrast to single-con-
text approaches, which compartmentalize aspects of students' lives-
those studies in which peer-group, family, and school variables are
studied independently of one another. Although research in these
areas has provided a great deal of important information, it is the re-
searcher who determines the focus rather than the individual, thereby
increasing chances of misinterpretation. For example, studies that fo-
cus on peer groups alone may miss the significance of school and class-
room features, which condition the choice or effects of a peer group.
Likewise, studies of teachers and pedagogy can obscure other features
of adolescents' lives, such as peer-group interactions or cultural back-
ground factors, which combine to impact students' engagement with
learning.
As educators attempt to create optimal school environments for in-
creasingly diverse populations, we need to know how students ne-
gotiate boundaries successfully, or, alternatively, how they are
impeded by barriers that prevent their connection not only with insti-
tutional contexts, but also with peers who are different from them-
selves. We believe that understanding students' multiple worlds and
boundary crossing behavior is vital in a world where barriers continue
to block understanding and obstruct attempts to develop and imple-
ment policies to ensure the success of all students in today's schools.
This study is a step toward reaching these goals.
Students' Multiple Worlds/Typology of Adaptation
During the first year and a half of this two-year longitudinal study,
the student study team has had an opportunity to know 54 students
in four high schools. The large, desegregated urban schools in our
sample are paired across districts: Maple High School (Montevideo
District) and Explorer High School (Bolivar District) have experienced
fairly dramatic changes in the demography of their student popula-
tions, while Canyon High School (Montevideo District) and Hunting-
ton High School (Bolivar District) have had more stable, middle-class
student populations.3 A majority of the students, selected to represent
some of the diversity found in many of California's large urban high
schools, were in their first year of high school when the study began
in the fall of 1989. Students vary on a number of dimensions, including
gender, ethnicity, achievement level, immigrant history, and intra-
district transportation status. An equal number of high and low

achieving students were selected from each school, and both minority
and majority students are included in the two achievement categories.
Students were asked to participate by school personnel.
Three in-depth interviews with each of the 54 students provide in-
formation on students' perceptions of classrooms and schools, the im-
portance and influence of friends and peer groups, and family condi-
tions that are significant to their lives. In addition, informal conver-
sations and interviews with 10 of the 54 students supplement more
formal data-collection methods. Observations in classrooms furnish
documentation of interactions between adolescents and their teachers
and peers in classroom contexts. Student record data (which include
standardized test scores, grades, teacher comments, and attendance
and referral records) contribute a picture of achievement patterns and
teacher perceptions of individual students over time. Additionally, we
obtained demographic and descriptive information about students
and their families. Finally, we interviewed teachers about their per-
ceptions of students' academic performance, classroom interactions,
social and peer-group behavior, and family background.
As the study began, our emphasis was on students' descriptions of
school factors that affect their engagement with learning-for exam-
ple, classroom organization, teacher attitudes and behaviors, pedago-
gy, and overall school climate. However, the use of open-ended inter-
views allowed students to talk about other features of their lives (i.e.,
peers and family) relevant to their feelings about school. "I wouldn't
let them put me in a higher track because I wanted to be with my
friends," reported one student. "At least in my family it's sort of ex-
pected that you're going to try to get A's or something close," said
another. "Being Mexican means being popular, cutting classes, acting
crazy," reported yet another student.
As a result, a model evolved to describe students' multiple worlds
and the relationships between them. Particularly important is our fo-
cus on the nature of boundaries and processes of movement between
worlds, as well as strategies that students employ to adapt to different
contexts and settings. As depicted in Figure 1, the meanings drawn
from each of these worlds combine to influence students' actions. If
parents emphasize school achievement but friends devalue good
grades, young people must incorporate and manage these different
perspectives while deciding on their own course of action.
The emergence of the Multiple Worlds model is an important de-
velopment of the first year of this investigation. Unlike most other ap-
proaches, which focus attention on stable characteristics of individuals
(e.g., gender and ethnicity) or concentrate on language acquisition or
achievement level alone, the Multiple Worlds model is generic. It is
neither ethnic, achievement, nor gender specific, but transcends these
categories to consider multiple worlds, boundary crossing, and ad-
Transitions
4Z
Figure 1
A model of the Interrelationships Between Students' Family, Peer, and School Worlds.
aptation for all students. The generic nature of the model is particu-
larly useful for understanding diversity within ethnic groups. For ex-
ample, we have seen that all students-Hispanic, Vietnamese, Fili-
pino, African-American, and Caucasian-may perceive boundaries
very differently and use various adaptation strategies as they move
from one setting to another.
As our study has proceeded we have found a good deal of variety
in students' descriptions of their worlds and in their perceptions of
boundaries. At the same time, we have also uncovered distinctive pat-
terns among students as they migrate across settings. We use a typol-
ogy to illustrate four patterns:
Type I: Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions

Type II: Different Worlds/Boundary Crossings Managed
Type III: Different Worlds/Boundary Crossings Hazardous
Type IV: Borders Impenetrable/Boundary Crossings Insurmountable
The patterns we describe are not necessarily stable for individual stu-
dents over time, but rather can be affected by external conditions such
as classroom or school climate conditions, family circumstances, or
changes in peer-group affiliations.4 Each of the four types includes the
variety of combinations possible with respect to perceived boundaries

(e.g., between family and school; peers and family; peers/family and
school), and each combination is characterized in different ways by
different students. Our descriptions of students illustrate only some
of the combinations possible. Both enabling and limiting patterns of
behavior are contained in this typology. We will see that some of the
superficially approved styles of adaptation can be as potentially lim-
iting as those where discordant patterns seem to dominate.
Type I: Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions

For some students, values, beliefs, expectations, and normative
ways of behaving are, for the most part, parallel across worlds. Al-
though the circumstances of daily contexts change, such students
barely perceive boundaries between their family, peer, and school
worlds. Movement from one setting to another is seen as harmonious
and uncomplicated. This does not mean that students act exactly the
same way or discuss the same things with teachers, friends, and fam-
ily members, but rather that commonalities between worlds override
differences. In these cases, students' worlds are merged by their com-
mon sociocultural components rather than bounded by conspicuous
differences.
Ryan Moore, a white middle-class student at Explorer High School
in the Bolivar School District, typifies an adolescent whose worlds are
congruent. According to Ryan, all of the people in his life believe and
value essentially the same things. When Ryan leaves his family in the
morning and joins his friends to walk to school, he does not have to
shift gears. His friends and his friends' parents esteem the same things
as Ryan and his parents-family cohesiveness and education are pri-
mary values.
So it sounds like you sought out the kids who have the same values you do?
Yeah, it works better that way because they all-the people that don't
really get good grades in our group-they want to get good grades and
they're always working. It's not like they're just here because the state says
they have to be. [EX37STA:421-432]
In fact, when Ryan's peers deviate from known and accepted ways of
behaving, friends not only raise eyebrows but also reaffirm, with each
other, what is acceptable.
So you don't have to explain or become ridiculed for doing homework and that sort
of thing?
No. No, like I remember one of our friends, he was trading baseball cards
the day before finals, and it got around-"He's trading baseball cards!" And
everybody else was going to people's houses to study and then here's this
guy sitting out on his front lawn with a couple of other guys trading baseball
cards and it was like "You know what I saw him doing?" [with shock] No
way! [EX37STA:434-448]
At school, teachers' language and communication style, conceptions

of the necessary strategies for success such as compliance, hard work,
and academic achievement, and pervading upward mobility norms
match the values, beliefs, and behaviors of Ryan's family. Although
Ryan likes some teachers better than others, his academic perfor-
mance is unaffected by his preferences-he does well across subjects.
Ryan, like many other high-achieving students, has long-term goals
and aspirations, which allow him to overlook, ignore, or rationalize
classroom circumstances that are not optimal in his view. Working to-
ward future aspirations takes precedence over any immediate discom-
fort he may feel because of a particular class or teacher.
People's perceptions of Ryan are also remarkably similar. Parents,
friends, and teachers all report that Ryan is an excellent student, a
thoughtful learner, and a "really nice kid, well liked by everybody."
Everyone expects that Ryan will get good grades, will behave in a
thoughtful and mature manner, and will no doubt attend a prestigious
college. Ryan's expectations of himself are not dissimilar.
Everybody wants to get good grades because I mean now, everybody

sees their future. And they realize that you can't mess around in school-
you can mess around after school but you've got to be serious while you're
here.
What do you see yourself doing in four years?
Oh, I want to go to Polytechnic cause my dad went there. I like it there,
it seems like the kind of school I'd like. [EX37STA:454-470]
An important feature that binds Ryan's worlds together is that the

actors in his life move across boundaries as well. Ryan's parents, who
have always been actively involved in school affairs, are currently par-
ticipating in parent programs at Explorer High School. Ryan's teachers
either know his parents or are aware of their school involvement.
Ryan describes his parents as supportive of his school activities, and
he is proud that they take an active role. Likewise, Ryan's friends live
in his neighborhood, "hang out" at his house, and interact comforta-
bly with his parents. There is nothing about Ryan's family (culturally
or socioeconomically) that sets him apart from his friends or their fam-
ilies. Getting together with friends also reinforces similarities.
Well, we'll go to somebody's house and watch movies or-they'll come to

my house and we'll play Ping-Pong. Just basically just get together. The big
thing is being together. We get to talk everything out about the week, and
complain about what you want to complain about. Everybody has the same
complaints. [EX37STB:535-543]
Ryan's friends also cross into his school world-he does not, for ex-
ample, leave his friends in the neighborhood to go across town to a
distant school. At school, Ryan and his friends are in an accelerated
academic track and frequently have the same teachers. As a result,
teachers know not only Ryan's friends but they also know, or at least
have some knowledge of, his family.
Rarely, however, do Ryan and his friends intermingle with students
in other peer groups. At Explorer High School, students describe
boundaries between groups as rigid and impenetrable. When asked if
ethnic groups intermingle, Ryan's response illuminates his view of
differences and illustrates boundary maintaining measures:
... if they speak Spanish and don't speak English, or they speak Viet-
namese but hardly any English they tend to hang together. But if they speak
English well, they'll hang around with other people, except for the Hispan-
ics-they tend to hang around in gangs.
Not formal gangs, just-they're kind of like a group that goes around and
you see and you realize, "Okay, they're here, I want to be there. When
they're there, I want to be here." . . . It seems like they don't want to be
bused here. So they're going to make our lives miserable here and bring
with them the way they hang downtown.
... it's because they think, well we had to get bused down here because
somebody spoke up and now we don't want to be here so let's let them
know that we don't want to be here. [EX37STA:490-530]
Ryan and his friends have little contact with or knowledge about
students different from themselves. Classroom and school climate fea-
tures at Explorer exacerbate these circumstances. Tracking in some
subjects serves to segregate Ryan and his friends from students in
lower-level classes. In Ryan's untracked general science class (which
he was required to take as a freshman), pedagogy is teacher domi-
nated and there is little interaction or discussion among students.
When answering end-of-chapter questions, Ryan works exclusively
with his friends and views other students in the class, who are not as
academically successful, as responsible for an unchallenging curricu-
lum. None of Ryan's classes has incorporated cooperative learning
techniques, and few provide opportunities for students to work to-
gether or to discuss ideas. Most of the curriculum has limited infor-
mation about people of color or wider socioeconomic issues dealing
with reasons for stratification and unequal opportunities. Explorer's
school environment provides little opportunity for Ryan or his friends
to move (intellectually or physically) outside of their bounded con-
gruent worlds-school features militate against the development of
intergroup understandings.
Other students in our sample also describe congruent worlds where
boundaries are barely perceived and border crossing is not a problem.
This type is not unfamiliar, and not surprisingly it frequently includes
white, middle-class to upper middle-class high-achieving adolescents.
However, not all of these students are high achieving. Joseph Foster,
a middle-class Caucasian student at Canyon High School in the Mon-
tevideo School District, maintains passing grades (mostly D's and C's)
and has no desire to achieve at a higher level. Nor do Joseph's teachers
or parents expect him to do so. Joseph's teachers and counselor say

that he is performing as well as he can, and his parents' primary ex-
pectations are that he pass his classes and graduate from high school.
Nobody, including Joseph, expects that he will go to college.
However, Joseph is clear about his future, and everyone (parents,
friends, and teachers) supports his goals. Like his father, Joseph plans
to enter the construction business and aspires to own his own com-
pany.
I want to be a contractor. ... Well that's what my dad is. Yeah, I want to
have my own business. [My dad] well, he wants me to do that, and my
mom, she sees that my dad does good, so she thinks it's a good idea.
What about their expectations in terms of school?
Well, they just want me to get by passing. I mean, they don't want me to
be an A student, they just want me to pass. I'm not gonna go [to college].
My dad didn't go to college either. [CAllSTB.200-256]
Family, peer, and teacher expectations of Joseph are similar, allowing

him to move without dissonance between worlds. Joseph's actions in
school are in accord with acceptable standards of behavior-teachers
believe that he is working to the limits of his academic capability, they
perceive him as pleasant and agreeable, and they view his active par-
ticipation in school sports as evidence of his involvement. Also, Jo-
seph has specific plans for the future, which include definite occupa-
tional goals well in line with culturally acceptable work patterns. Jo-
seph's counselor and some of his teachers know his family (Joseph's
older brother also attended Canyon, and his parents participate in
school affairs by attending parent conferences and sporting events).
They describe Joseph as "coming from a really nice, supportive fam-
ily." Joseph is not a student teachers worry about.
Type II: Different Worlds/Boundary Crossings Managed
For some students, family, peer, and school worlds are different
(with respect to culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or religion),
thereby requiring adjustment and reorientation as movement between
contexts occurs. For example, a student's family world may be domi-
nated by an all-encompassing religious doctrine in which values and
beliefs are often contrary to those found in school and peer worlds.
For other students, home and neighborhood are viewed as starkly dif-
ferent from school-particularly for minority students who are trans-
ported. And for still other students, differences between peers and
family are dominant themes. Regardless of the differences, in this
type, students' perceptions of boundaries between worlds do not pre-
vent them from managing crossings or adapting to different settings.
This does not mean, however, that crossings are always easy, or that
adjustments are made without personal and psychic costs.
Elvira is a student who describes demarcated boundaries vividly.

She portrays her home and predominantly Filipino neighborhood as
vastly different from the school environment.
... up here it's really different. Like how it looks. Up here for some reason
it looks so much cleaner and nicer and it makes you feel happy to be here,
you know? Cause I just like stand on our upper floor [of the school]-if you
play softball you just look at those condos or whatever those are, it's called
"The Renaissance" and just look over there. [CA09STB:674-682]
Elvira entered Canyon High School in the spring of her 10th grade year
(the school includes grades ten to twelve) and has maintained a 3.67
grade point average for three semesters. She rises at 5:20 a.m. and, as
a participant in the school district's desegregation program, catches a
bus to Canyon High School, located in an affluent, upper middle-class
neighborhood almost an hour from her home. Eighty percent of Can-
yon students go on to college. Elvira's reasons for choosing to attend
this school illustrate her perceptions of differences between home/
neighborhood and school worlds.
Oh they said, the people were friendlier up here and the population-
cause some of my friends . . . they get tired of seeing so many Filipinos and
they want a different atmosphere so they come up here .... Most of the
Filipino guys down south are like hoods or involved in gangs and stuff, and
you [I] don't want that. They have long hair and when you come up here
it's a little bit more different.
. . . also down south there's a lot of like girls that are involved in gangs,
too. I just get lazy cause I don't like to do my hair a lot, and lots of the girls
down south they always fix their hair every day and put on like black eye-
liner. When they look at you they just like think you're weird or something.
[CA09STA. 62-85]
Sometimes I'm fine. .. It's like they live life more freely up here, and
that's what I like about it-they have cars, they can go out to lunch ... I
just like go home to do homework. [CA09STA:766-773]
Elvira is both fascinated and disturbed by this environment. She has

few neighborhood friends who attend Canyon, and the social adjust-
ment has been painful and difficult. Her daily transitions to and from
school are characterized by dissonance, in part due to her difficulty in
connecting with the Canyon peer culture. When asked about friends,
she replied:
Like two or three people. And they introduced me to some of their friends
and other people in my class. But . . . still it's a problem because during
lunch time I get lost and I don't know who to hang around with and there's
so many cliques ... they grow up together, especially like the natives up
here at Canyon. They're just already there, cause you can sense it in most
of your classes. They're just, "You know, we went to so and so's
house ... to a party ... did you go to that party the other day?" And,
"Guess who I saw the other day?" [CA09STA:167-180]
Elvira feels she is an outsider to these interactions. At the same time,

one of her primary objectives is not to stand out. She describes poi-
gnantly her horror of being the target of blatant discrimination because
of her status as a bused student.
And well, most of the people here are friendly. There are a few that are like
kind of not-I don't know, I guess they are not willing to integrate or they
don't really want to. Sometimes I'm fine. But like, walking with a friend,
there are these two guys and they're like saying, "New York City, here
comes deprogram" [referring to Elvira and her friend as bused students]. I
hate that, it's like oh my God, and I try to ignore them,
but... [CA09STA.113-128]
Despite Elvira's perception of the stark differences between her

home/neighborhood and school, there are also similarities. For exam-
ple, Elvira's parents, as well as her teachers, expect her to achieve ac-
ademically. When asked about her parents' expectations, she replied:
Oh, I guess mostly it's like do your own things-well, not get F's and
D's . . I think they mostly expect As' and Bs', cause that's what I've been
getting all along . . . they expect us to get grades higher-not lower than a
C. Because my sister got a D in PE once and... he [my father] was so mad.
[CA09STA.426-446]
. . Well I don't know, I guess they don't know what to expect, they just
want us to live a successful life, kind of like theirs. ... As long as we're
getting good grades. [CA09STB.335-340]
Elvira's parents know the importance of good grades with respect to

higher education. Elvira says they frequently ask her, "Are you going
to go to college?" Their hopes and expectations for her future are clear.
Likewise, Elvira's teachers and counselor also expect that she will at-
tend college, and assist her in moving toward that goal. Her quiet
manner, good grades, and nondisruptive behavior invoke positive de-
scriptions from her teachers and counselor. However, no one at the
school is aware of the difficult transitions she experiences daily.
Culture, ethnicity, and trying to work out her own place in diver-
gent worlds are repeating themes throughout Elvira's interviews. She
views her family and neighborhood as a rigidly bounded Filipino en-
clave. "There used to be some real Americans, but then they moved,"
she said. Rarely do the actors in Elvira's life cross the boundaries of
her worlds, and when they do she is acutely uncomfortable. In fact,
she expends energy to keep everyone apart. Since she has been at
Canyon her parents have visited the school twice-once to attend a
dance performance, and a second time to attend a meeting for parents
about college application procedures. On each occasion Elvira de-
scribes being nervous and uneasy: "I wondered if they would be the
only Filipinos there." Nor do the few non-transported friends Elvira
has made at Canyon visit her home-she worries what they would
think.
Elvira's feeling of being different is palpable. Nevertheless, she has

adopted strategies to overcome the barriers she perceives. Finding it
difficult to "hang out" at lunchtime, Elvira has joined a dance group
that practices at noon. In classes, she tentatively initiates talk with
peers who sit nearby. Interviews suggest that Elvira is an astute ob-
server of the actions and behaviors of others, thereby enabling her to
adopt styles and to practice interaction patterns similar to those of the
students with whom she is attempting to connect.
Another strategy she has adopted to manage the difficult crossing
to this school environment is to turn her complete attention to school-
work.
. . when I do my homework or my other work, I usually put all my effort

into it. So it's kind of hard when you get a bad grade, cause other people,
you know, they don't do anything, and it's like copy other people or what-
ever and they just pass with a C and they're happy, but you know I want
to do better or do more. [CA09STB:62-71]
Observing Elvira in classes confirms her attention to lessons. Even in

classes that seem dull or in which students harass the teacher, Elvira
is attentive. Not only has Elvira internalized norms of upward mobility
but she also equates academic achievement with reaching her goals.
[I want] a higher life, a higher status. It's like my standards of living are
higher than what my parents have. It's like I don't know. I guess it's just a
dream but . . . the ultimate would be living either in a nice little house in
Hawaii, or a nice big house in Crespi [the Canyon neighborhood]. With
some nice car. I don't know what kind of car. Right now I want a Cabriolet.
A white one with a white top. But I don't really know. Crespi is the best,
they're so nice. [CA09STB:1243-1259]
Finally, Elvira has completely disengaged from any involvement

with her sister's friends. Maria, who is one year younger, has chosen
to attend the family's neighborhood high school rather than partici-
pate in the district's transporting program. According to Elvira, her
sister is "into her own race" and frequently mentions hating white
people. Many of her sister's friends are in gangs-"two have been
stabbed, another has stabbed someone." Though peripherally inter-
ested in these events, Elvira remains distant from any involvement.
I think it's pretty interesting, but . . . it's their business. It's their business,
but it's not really my concern. [CA09STA2:56-59]
In order to embrace the school world at Canyon, Elvira has had to con-
sciously separate herself from her sister's peer group, where values
and beliefs would militate against her successful adaptation to the
Canyon environment.
Elements of the school environment pull her in-the care and con-
cern of teachers and her counselor, the positive response to her aca-
demic achievements, an opportunity to develop an expanded vision

of what is possible. The general belief by others in the school environ-
ment that she can and will do well is reinforcing. However, some
school features impede her progress. Elvira's classes are rarely struc-
tured to allow students to interact with each other. Peer interaction is
something she would like. Although this type of classroom organiza-
tion has not affected her grades, it certainly has not facilitated her con-
nection with other students. Even though transition to the peer world
at Canyon has been difficult, Elvira is slowly making progress at ac-
quiring new friends. Perhaps most important, Elvira says, "I want to
be someplace where I'm socially accepted." Social acceptance is a re-
curring theme for Elvira. While managing to cross the border between
her home/neighborhood and school, each day she struggles to find her
place at Canyon High School.
Not surprisingly, this type-different worlds/crossings managed-
frequently includes academically successful minority students. In
some cases, students who successfully cross boundaries "hang out"
with an ethnically mixed group of peers who also get good grades.
Trinh, a high-achieving Vietnamese student, has a peer group of this
configuration. Trinh has lived in an upper middle-class neighborhood
and has attended predominantly upper middle-class schools since her
arrival in the United States 15 years ago. She now attends Huntington
High School in the Bolivar School District.
Most of Trinh's friends, whom she has met in her classes, are cul-
turally different from her Vietnamese family. In school, she talks and
lunches with her peer group, and she has adopted behavioral and in-
teraction patterns similar to those of white middle-class adolescents.
Trinh's friends provide a reference group less constricted in their ex-
pectations than her traditional Vietnamese family.
Friends are important because I can talk and share things that I wouldn't
normally with my family. I can tell them things and they would see both
sides of the story, unlike when I tell parents and they usually just talk of
their point of view. ... In this [peer] world, I can be myself without wor-
rying of their high expectations of me. I can act silly without having them
stare at me and thinking I'm childish like in the family world. [HT30: Stu-
dent Essay]
Trinh has adopted a number of strategies that allow her to cross

boundaries from home to school and peers. First, she has selected
high-achieving friends, thus acquiring a peer group with some values
(e.g., emphasis on academic achievement) similar to those of her par-
ents. Second, she strives to keep her family, peer, and school worlds
separate by not transporting actors across boundaries. With respect to
her family, this is not a problem, since Vietnamese parents often place
great trust and confidence in school authorities and, therefore, rarely
visit their children's schools. Nevertheless, Trinh's parents emphasize
vigorously the importance of education and the need for her to achieve
academically in the American educational system. Trinh's friends do

not cross the boundary to her family world. Adolescents do not "hang
out" at her house. Instead, she arranges activities with friends away
from her home, knowing that her parents' traditional Vietnamese be-
liefs about what is appropriate behavior for adolescents may not co-
incide with the actions of her friends. Although Trinh has been able to
persuade her parents to allow her to participate in some activities,
there are others that they will not permit. Trinh can go to the mall with
girlfriends, but not by herself. Her parents do not allow her to spend
the night at friends' homes, or to date. Trinh has adopted strategies
for operating in both home and school/peer worlds, but in so doing,
she must always hide a part of who she is.
Type III: Different Worlds/Boundary Crossings Hazardous
In this category, like the former, students define their family, peer,
and school worlds as distinct. They say they must adjust and reorient
as they move across worlds and among contexts. However, unlike stu-
dents who manage border crossings successfully, these students find
transitions hazardous. In fact, in many cases, border crossing is pos-
sible only under particular conditions. A student may do well academ-
ically in a class where the teacher's interaction style, the student's role,
or the learning activity are similar to what takes place within the stu-
dent's peer and/or family worlds. Frequently, these students are less
successful in classrooms in which norms and behaviors are not only
different from, but oppositional to, those they encounter with their
families and friends. Likewise, those students in this category who de-
scribe their comfort and ease at school and with peers are essentially
estranged from their parents. In these cases, parents' values and be-
liefs are frequently more traditional, more religious, or more con-
strained than those of their children, making adaptation to their home
world difficult and conflictual.
Boundary crossing in this category involves friction and unease.
Students who do well in one class may fail all others-frequently they
do not know why. Or adolescents may rail against their parents' con-
servatism. This pattern often includes adolescents' teetering between
success and failure, involvement and disengagement, commitment
and apathy. These are some of the students for whom classroom and
school climate conditions can mean the difference between staying in
school or dropping out.
Donna Carlota, a Mexican-American student at Huntington High
School, is an example of a student who thrives academically when the
values, beliefs, expectations, and normative ways of behaving are con-
sistent with her family, peer, and school worlds, and who disengages
from school when they are not. A fourth-generation American, and
the oldest of four children in a single-parent family, Donna is working
to be the first in her family to graduate from high school.
Donna's mother demonstrates concern and interest in her children's

schooling. Although the family lives outside Huntington High
School's attendance area, Donna's mother met with and persuaded
school authorities to allow both her daughters to attend. She perceives
Huntington's resources and location in an upper middle-class area as
extra protection that will ensure that her children graduate from high
school. Donna is well aware of her mother's concerns.
She really wants us not to be like her. She wants us to learn from her mis-
takes. And they're not really mistakes, but she says that she doesn't regret
none of them, but she regrets not going to school. . . . Really, mainly, she
wants us to graduate out of high school. To go out, graduate, since she
didn't really do that. She wants us to be responsible. You know, for my
brothers. If someday they become a father, she wants them to understand-
she doesn't want them to go and be making mistakes, making something
and just walking away from it. ... Most of the pressure is on me, cause I'm
the oldest. [HT52STB:1079-1104]
Donna maintains a position of authority and responsibility with re-

spect to school, the household, and her younger siblings. Her mother
leaves many decisions related to schooling entirely to Donna (e.g.,
whether or not to attend school on a given day, whether or not to do
homework). Overseeing her brother's and sister's homework assign-
ments is also left to Donna. According to Donna, these responsibilities
are indicative of the trust her mother has in her judgment.
Relationships and experiences in Donna's peer world are similar to
her relationship with her mother. Popular with her friends, she holds
a position of leadership and responsibility in her Mexican-American
peer group, often organizing outings or acting as a mediator when ar-
guments flare. Predominant peer-group norms include helping one
another and putting others' interests first.
In both Donna's family and peer worlds, emotional openness is val-
ued. According to Donna, her true friends know all there is to know
about her, and she knows all there is to know about them. Family
problems are not hidden, but discussed openly. What is most striking
is the lack of separation between Donna's peer and family worlds. Un-
like many teens, Donna is proud to be seen with her mother and fam-
ily, and treats her mother as one of her girlfriends.
Yeah, my mom knows most of my friends, my girlfriends that is. And she'll
go out with us, shopping or whatever. Like last weekend, Anita and I were
going shopping and we invited my mom to go, but she was too tired. And
my friends will talk to her about all sorts of things. Like my mom, you can
talk to her about guys, she likes to talk about guys. She's not like a lot of
parents, really strict about that. [HT52STC:285-296]
The actors in Donna's peer and family worlds intermingle regularly.

But how do Donna's family and peer worlds, between which bound-
aries are barely perceived, combine to affect her involvement in

school?
For Donna's friends, school achievement is secondary to having
fun, maintaining friendships, and developing relationships with the
opposite sex. Her friends' academic achievement ranges from average
to poor.
Peer expectations, such as putting others' interests first, can nega-
tively affect school performance. When Donna half completes a school
assignment due in 20 minutes, and a friend has not begun, she will
neglect her own work to help her friend. If Donna is hurrying to class,
and a friend calls out to her, she will stop to talk. Her friends' needs
outweigh the negative aspects of the tardy she will receive. When she
is given a detention, she expects the same friend to stay after school
with her for several days to keep her company. When there are trou-
bles with family and friends, Donna's attention to her school work de-
clines. At the same time, Donna's friends are opposed to school fail-
ure, which is considered shameful, rather than something to be proud
of.
... if I get a bad grade, Anita will say, "What is this 'D,' Donna? A 'D'?
Come on!" . . . my friends might feel like they're low or something, but
they're not proud of getting straight F's or nothing like that. And not all of
my friends get bad grades. Some of them get good grades .... You usually
don't find out that they got a bad grade unless one of them gets grounded.
Then you know that report cards just came out. And also, if one of them
does badly they'll just change the subject real quick. That's how you know
they don't want to talk about it. [HT52STC:346-375]
While Donna's peers do not rank school first in their concerns, they
do support Donna in her efforts to graduate from high school.
Overall, Donna has maintained a C average at Huntington High
School, though her grades vary across classes. In some of Donna's
classes, teachers encourage discussion and the sharing of ideas. In
others, cooperative learning techniques are used. Donna identifies
these classrooms as easy, and does well. These teachers describe
Donna as a mature and model student. In other classrooms, instruc-
tion is primarily teacher-centered, interaction among students is dis-
couraged, and students are usually expected to be passive learners.
Donna tends to daydream in these classes, identifies them as difficult,
and does poorly academically. Further, these teachers barely recog-
nize who she is.
There's a lot of my teachers who tell me to keep up the good work, and they
just compliment me, and tell me to keep getting good grades and stuff,
which is fine. They always tell me, "I want you to be a good student," and
they, a lot of them, say, "I really appreciate having you in class" and stuff.
And it's nice. The class I'm getting an F in, he to me seems like, he doesn't
really pay attention to anybody in particular in class. It's just a whole class,
and this is math but ... there's really no one who could talk about him. So
I don't know what he actually means. He doesn't look at me, and he knows
when I do work, I do work, and I do listen to him. [HT52STC:1249-1268]
Donna does well in classrooms where she perceives the teacher as

caring and where the norms and behaviors that characterize her family
and peer worlds-group over self, listening and empathizing with
others, and mediation skills-are required. In classroom contexts
where these skills are not used, and/or the teacher is perceived as re-
mote, Donna's attention shifts to peer-group concerns. In these situ-
ations, Donna finds crossing the boundary from peer to school world
difficult.
Other students in our study are not dissimilar to Donna, though
many are in more danger academically. Manuella, a second-genera-
tion Mexican-American student at Maple High School in the Monte-
video School District, has received A's and B's in two academic
classes, but is failing all the rest. Her school records through the sev-
enth grade reveal high grades and test scores; in fact, in junior high
school, Manuella was an identified gifted student. In the eighth grade,
Manuella's grades began to drop. In high school, they have plum-
meted. The two classes in which Manuella has done well have been
organized to promote student to student interaction. In history, Man-
uella and four other students work regularly as a group on class as-
signments. Manuella serves frequently as a resource to the others, and
the classroom arrangement makes it unnecessary for Manuella to
make the transition from peers to a more traditional teacher-domi-
nated environment. Manuella perceives this teacher as particularly
caring, concerned, and interested in her personally. "I can really talk
to Mr. Castenada," she says.
In contrast, classes that Manuella is failing are characterized by
teachers who lecture, work that is often confined to reading textbook
chapters and answering end-of-chapter questions, and interaction
that is confined to students responding to teacher-initiated questions.
In these classes, Manuella withdraws, shuts down, tunes out. None
of these teachers know that she has been successful in other classroom
contexts, and they believe that her failure stems from a lack of moti-
vation and self-discipline.
Type IV: Borders Impenetrable/Boundary Crossings Insurmountable

For some students, the values, beliefs, and expectations are so dis-
cordant across worlds that boundary crossing is resisted or impossi-
ble. When border crossing is attempted, it is frequently so painful that,
over time, these students develop reasons and rationales to protect
themselves against further distress. In such cases, boundaries are
viewed as insurmountable, and students, actively or passively, resist
attempts to embrace other worlds. Some students say that school is
irrelevant to their lives. Other students immerse themselves fully in
the world of their peers. Rather than moving from one setting to an-
other, blending elements of all, these students remain constrained by
boundaries they perceive as rigid and impenetrable.
Sonia Gonzalez, who attends Explorer High School in the Bolivar
School District, typifies a student who does not cross boundaries. Last
semester she received straight F's, and she has almost completely dis-
engaged from school involvement. Sonia perceives borders between
her home, peer, and school worlds as essentially opposed to one an-
other.
A second-generation American, Sonia entered school speaking
Spanish. By the fifth grade she was classified as English proficient.
Growing up in a Mexican barrio, Sonia has maintained her orientation
toward her Mexican heritage. At home and with her friends-the ma-
jority of whom are bilingual-Spanish is the language of choice. Mex-
ican traditions and practices are emphasized in her family and among
her friends. However, there is no question that Sonia possesses bilin-
gual/bicultural skills. Her academic history through the eighth grade
is relatively optimistic. During this time she earned mostly B's and C's.
In high school her grades have plummeted-last year she failed four
out of five academic classes, and the first semester of her sophomore
year, she did not pass any.
According to Sonia, the boundary between her school and peer
world became impassible when, desiring to be popular, she moved
into a new female Mexican-American peer group. Sonia's peer world
consists of sociocultural components fundamentally different from
and opposed to those that are required for success both in school and
the wider society.
I don't know, but Mexicans are more crazier than white people. It's like
we have like different kinds of thinking I guess, I don't know. Like we want
to do everything, it's like-they [white people] take everything slowly you
know ... and I don't know, it's just that they think about the future more
and stuff. And us, you know what happens, happens. And it's just meant
to happen. And it's like-we do crazy things, and we never think about the
consequences that might happen.
And like white people over here in this area right here, like everything's
more quiet, more serious, you know. You don't see like-it's really rare to
see a teenager pregnant, it's like more Mexican and black people are the
ones that come out pregnant. And you don't see like white people screwing
around. And when you go to Juvenile, you never see like a white person in
there, cause they have their act together and Mexicans, they just tend to
screw around all the time. . . . [EX56STB:965-1032]
Expectations in Sonia's peer group include being available to give ad-

vice, listening in good times and in bad, and doing crazy things such
as taking risks and having fun. There is an explicit recognition among
group members that pro-school behavior is not congruent with group
norms and expected behaviors.
Do you have any of the same classes together?

No, unfortunately. Well in a way it's better because if we were together we
would have really screwed up. Cause like when me and her get together,
we just screw around all the time. And so it's better to stay away from each
other.... Cause otherwise we don't care about school or anything when
we're together. Cause we have a lot of fun together. [EX56STB:234-250]
With these friends, Sonia skips classes, ignores homework, gets into
trouble with legal and school authorities, and gets involved-some-
times as a participant, sometimes as an accomplice-in the gang activ-
ity carried out by male friends. Sonia believes that the behavior re-
quired to succeed in school precludes popularity among the promi-
nent Mexican-American crowd.
According to Sonia, her family has little influence on her school be-
havior. Her relationship with her father-a production worker-is
distant and antagonistic, and he has little involvement in her life. In
contrast, she has a close, sisterly relationship with her mother, who
was raised in an upper middle-class family in Mexico where she grad-
uated from high school. Sonia talks to and seeks advice from her
mother about her friends, boys, and school. In turn, her mother shares
her concerns about her marriage with Sonia. According to Sonia, her
mother constantly urges her to raise her grades, and to consider going
to college. However, she is unable to assist Sonia with homework and
is uncertain of what role she should play with respect to school in-
volvement. Sonia believes that her mother is uncomfortable crossing
into the world of school because she has no knowledge of or experi-
ence with the American educational system. Because of this, most of
the responsibility for seeking and getting educational assistance is
Sonia's.
Sonia sees her situation as starkly different from that of many of the
students at Explorer High School who do well academically. She de-
scribes vividly the difficulty she experiences in crossing boundaries
between her family, peer, and school worlds.
It's really confusing. And some people that understand me, they say, "It's
really easy, what's wrong with you? It's easy." But it's hard, it's hard. Prob-
ably it depends on what kind of background you have, too, cause if you
have parents that been to college, they've been prepared, and they're pretty
much prepared-you pretty much have a better idea what's going on, you
like understand things better, cause you grew up in the kind of environ-
ment that, you know, they understand more. But if you have parents that
dropped out and stuff like that, you know, it's different, it's harder. Cause
you try to get help from them, you know, when you're doing your home-
work. They don't understand what you're doing, they don't know. And it's
hard, it's harder. [EX56STB:793-814]
Sonia's difficulties in crossing boundaries between family, peer, and

school worlds are exacerbated by the fact that she has few connections
to school. Her comments and our observations reveal that she has little
meaningful contact with her high school teachers. According to Sonia,

she has never had a teacher who spoke adamantly about the successes
and strengths of Mexican culture, or who spoke to her personally
about her future. Further, she believes that her teachers communicate
negative images about her ethnic identity:
White teachers, some of them are kind of prejudiced ... It's probably the
way they look at you, the way they talk, you know, when they're talking
about something-like when they talk about the people who are going to
drop out. And Mr. Kula, when he's talking about teenage pregnancy or
something like that, he turns around and looks at us [Sonia and her Mexican
female friends]. It's like, he tries to look around the whole room, so we
won't notice, but like he mostly like tries to tell us, tries to get it through
our heads, you know. [EX56STB:1884-1911]
Sonia also perceives little support and even direct hostility from her
non-Mexican peers. Her statements reflect the intense discomfort she
feels in classes without her friends.
Cause you feel uncomfortable in a class that-you know, where there's

practically no Mexicans in there. So nobody you can talk to. And then the
people in there, they're like really stuck up, you know. It makes me uncom-
fortable to be in that class cause they're like-you feel they're talking about
you or something. It's uncomfortable cause they're like stuck up, they don't
like talking to you. You might say, "Hi" or "Hello," and sometimes they
don't answer back. And that's why I don't like them, you know. [EX56STB:
855-874]
Sonia's description illuminates her feelings of being an outsider. There

appear to be few features in her classes that operate to pull her in and
ensure her inclusion as a respected and valuable member of the group.
Further, none of her teachers are aware of the intense discomfort she
feels. Security, acceptance, and a strong sense of belonging character-
ize Sonia's involvement in her peer world. These qualities are not rep-
licated in the world of school. And why would Sonia risk potential os-
tracism for being a "school girl" to embrace a school world that she
perceives as hostile and cold? The combination of peer-group norms
that devalue academic success and school features that fail to address
her individual needs creates insurmountable boundaries.
Students who describe boundaries as impenetrable also include
those unable to cross into the world of peers or family. Jeffrey, a white
student at Huntington High School, describes vividly the alienation
and loneliness he feels without friends. Jeffrey says it is impossible to
concentrate on school when all he can think about is how isolated he
is. Jeffrey's low grades (and high test scores) are indicative of his ina-
bility to focus on school. However, during his first semester at Hun-
tington, Jeffrey went to a peer counselor who encouraged him to par-
ticipate in Huntington's drama program. Jeffrey has subsequently be-
come actively involved not only in drama but also in peer counseling.
These programs have helped Jeffrey connect with some friends, but
his standing with peers remains tenuous. Most of Jeffrey's teachers are
unaware of the difficulties he faces; others do not consider the edu-
cational implications of his inability to make friends. When Jeffrey's
science teacher asked students to work together in groups he did not
notice that Jeffrey, unable to connect with peers, sat quietly alone.
Other students in this type perceive demarcated boundaries be-
tween peer and family worlds. In these situations, conflicts are fre-
quently acute and students' energies and attention are diverted from
engagement in learning. Locked in conflict with their families, these
students see school involvement as extrinsic to the other pressures in
their lives.
Discussion
This article presents a model for thinking about the interrelationship

of students' family, peer, and school worlds and, in particular, how
they combine to affect students' engagement with schools and learn-
ing. We have generated a typology to illustrate patterns of movement
and adaptation strategies as students move across worlds and interact
in different contexts and social settings. Although each of the four
types contains variety with respect to students' perceptions of bound-
aries, there are, nevertheless, some common themes.
In our sample, most of the students who describe congruent worlds
and smooth transitions (Type I) are members of two-parent families
who place a high value on family cohesiveness. Family values include
an orientation toward the future, academic achievement or doing the
"best one can," and conformity to acceptable standards of behavior.
These students' friends reinforce the value of effort with respect to
school, sports, and work. The actors in their lives move across the
boundaries of their worlds-friends go to each other's homes and are
in the same classes at school. Parents attend school events (e.g.,
sports, drama) and participate in teacher conferences and parent or-
ganizations. It is well known by teachers, either personally or through
word of mouth, that parents support teacher efforts and are available
if problems should arise.
Teachers frequently feel comfortable with these students, for they
do not cause problems and rarely exhibit behaviors that are worri-
some. Teachers perceive these students as being on the right track.
One of Ryan's teachers described him as "programmed for success."
Other teachers, however, express concern that these "well-adjusted
and successful" students are the ones forgotten. And, in fact, we have
found that these students frequently express tremendous pressures-
anxiety about the future, living up to the expectations of those around
them, maintaining high grades.
Students who are secure and comfortable within the bounds of their
congruent worlds may have an especially difficult time connecting
with peers unlike themselves. Many have little opportunity or reason

to practice or acquire boundary crossing strategies. Distanced from
students in other groups, it is these students who are particularly "at
risk" for developing spurious ideas and stereotypes about others.
Some of these students are uninterested in getting to know or working
or interacting with students who achieve at different levels or who
have different backgrounds. Constantly reinforced for their "on-
track" behaviors, they can be quick to denigrate divergent actions by
others. In a sense, their view is limited and bounded by the con-
gruency of their worlds.
Students whose worlds are different but manage to successfully
traverse boundaries (Type II) are, like the previous students, often
overlooked by their teachers. They too present few problems-they
appear to "fit in," and their behavior is in accord with acceptable class-
room and school norms. Nevertheless, these students are frequently
an enigma to their teachers who have no knowledge of their families
or the reasons for their success. Their invisibility as individuals is il-
luminated by teacher descriptions, which expose the lack of even the
most fundamental knowledge about students' backgrounds. One
teacher in our study praised Trinh's behavior saying, "She is a model
Chinese student."
Even though many students are able to cross perceived boundaries
successfully, they are frequently forced to deny aspects of who they
are. This is illuminated by these youths' efforts to keep the actors in
their worlds separate, and the tremendous discomfort they feel when
unable to do so. Because teachers view these students as "well ad-
justed," the conflicts and difficulties they may feel can be overlooked
or discounted as unimportant. Teachers, relieved that students "fit
in," do well academically, and present few problems, neglect to attend
to important aspects of individuals' lives (e.g., the energy and effort
required to navigate different worlds successfully).
Students whose worlds are different and boundary cross only under
certain conditions (Type III) often teeter between engagement and
withdrawal (whether with family, school, or friends). For youth
whose family and peer worlds stand in contrast to that of the school,
academic success occurs sporadically. In classrooms where these stu-
dents flourish, teachers know the students well, are attuned to their
needs, and show personal concern for their lives. These teachers are
aware of their students' precarious academic status and incorporate
various pedagogical methods to ensure student involvement. In class-
rooms where students do poorly, teachers often classify them as over-
all low achievers and are unaware of their successes. Manuella's math
teacher, in whose class she had spent five hours a week for almost a
full academic year, did not know who she was. Low expectations and
pessimism about students' abilities characterize these teachers' views.
Blame for students' failures is placed on students' personal character-
istics or forces outside the school (e.g., the students' families or peers).
These teachers rarely suspect that classroom features, pedagogical
style, or their own attitudes may influence powerfully students' abil-
ities to succeed and connect with the school environment.
Finally, students who describe borders as impenetrable and bound-
ary crossing as insurmountable (Type IV) say that attempts to embrace
other worlds create stress and anxiety. As a result, these students ori-
ent toward situations where support is found and away from circum-
stances that exacerbate their discomfort. Students who are alienated
from school may turn their attention to peers. Or, students, like Jef-
frey, who are alienated from peers, may spend time with extended
family members. However, the inability of these students to cross
boundaries does not necessarily imply that they are completely op-
posed to school. Students who perceive borders between family and/
or peers and school as impenetrable say that classroom and school cli-
mate features do not support their needs. They frequently describe in-
stances of insensitivity or hostility from teachers and other students,
which threaten their personal integrity or devalue their background
circumstances (e.g., religious or cultural). In fact, many voice a desire
to obtain the skills necessary to cross successfully into the school en-
vironment.
The Multiple Worlds model has important implications for schools
and learning. Perhaps most significant, it provides teachers and others
with a way of thinking about their students in a more holistic way.
Further, the model suggests a focus for educators as they think about
school features that can impact students' lives. In order to create en-
vironments where students are able to work together in classrooms,
to solve problems jointly, and to have equal investment in schools and
learning, we need to identify institutional structures that operate to
facilitate boundary crossing strategies and that do not require students
to give up or hide important features of their lives. This requires more
than understanding other cultures. It means that students must ac-
quire skills and strategies to work comfortably and successfully with
different people in divergent social settings. Teachers and administra-
tors in all of our schools talk about the importance of fostering school
environments where differences are valued rather than feared. This
line of work supports efforts to achieve this goal.
Notes
Acknowledgments. The research reported here was conducted under the aus-
pices of the Center for Research on the Context of Secondary School Teaching,
with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S.
Department of Education, Cooperative Agreement #OERI-G0087C235. An
earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the Amer-
ican Educational Research Association, Chicago, April 1991. The authors
gratefully acknowledge the insightful comments and helpful suggestions of
Bruce Joyce, Milbrey McLaughlin, Richard P. Mesa, George and Louise Spin-
dler, and Joan Talbert.
1. The Students' Multiple Worlds Study falls within the framework of the Cen-
ter for Research on the Context of Secondary School Teaching (CRC). During
the first year of the Center's field-based research, teachers described the ways
in which students' characteristics (motivation and goals, attitudes and abili-
ties, behaviors, language proficiency, family supports, etc.) affected their
teaching decisions, the settings in which they worked, and their view of re-
sponsibilities. Since the overall CRC strategy assumes that "the workplace is
socially constructed by participants in the setting," the Student Study was ini-
tiated to better understand the lives of secondary school students and their
relationships with teachers and aspects of classroom and school environ-
ments. This study began in the fall of 1989 with an emphasis on students' per-
spectives-specifically, how adolescents view and define what is significant
in affecting their school experiences.
2. Our use of the term world corresponds closely to Spradley and McCurdy's
definition of cultural scene. Likewise, the terms social settings, arenas, and con-
texts in this study parallel their definition of social situations (Spradley and
McCurdy 1972:25-30).
3. Although Huntington High School was originally selected because of its rel-
ative stable student population, during the course of this study, the minority
student population has increased to 49%. Seven percent of these students par-
ticipate in the district's busing program.
4. For example, 17 of the 54 students in our study exhibited different patterns

with respect to perceived boundaries and border crossing strategies during
the first year and a half of this study.
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Students' Multiple Worlds: Negotiating the Boundaries of Family, Peer, and School

PATRICIA PHELAN, ANN LOCKE DAVIDSON, AND HANH THANH CAO

This article presents a model of the interrelationships between students'family,

Students' Multiple Worlds/Typology of Adaptation

district transportation status. An equal number of high and low

Type I: Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions

variety of combinations possible with respect to perceived boundaries

Type I: Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions

At school, teachers' language and communication style, conceptions

Everybody wants to get good grades because I mean now, everybody

An important feature that binds Ryan's worlds together is that the

Well, we'll go to somebody's house and watch movies or-they'll come to

or parents expect him to do so. Joseph's teachers and counselor say

Family, peer, and teacher expectations of Joseph are similar, allowing

Type II: Different Worlds/Boundary Crossings Managed

Elvira is a student who describes demarcated boundaries vividly.

Elvira is both fascinated and disturbed by this environment. She has

Elvira feels she is an outsider to these interactions. At the same time,

Despite Elvira's perception of the stark differences between her

Elvira's parents know the importance of good grades with respect to

Elvira's feeling of being different is palpable. Nevertheless, she has

. . when I do my homework or my other work, I usually put all my effort

Observing Elvira in classes confirms her attention to lessons. Even in

Finally, Elvira has completely disengaged from any involvement

demic achievements, an opportunity to develop an expanded vision

Trinh has adopted a number of strategies that allow her to cross

academically in the American educational system. Trinh's friends do

Type III: Different Worlds/Boundary Crossings Hazardous

Donna's mother demonstrates concern and interest in her children's

Donna maintains a position of authority and responsibility with re-

The actors in Donna's peer and family worlds intermingle regularly.

aries are barely perceived, combine to affect her involvement in

Donna does well in classrooms where she perceives the teacher as

Type IV: Borders Impenetrable/Boundary Crossings Insurmountable

Expectations in Sonia's peer group include being available to give ad-

Do you have any of the same classes together?

Sonia's difficulties in crossing boundaries between family, peer, and

meaningful contact with her high school teachers. According to Sonia,

Cause you feel uncomfortable in a class that-you know, where there's

Sonia's description illuminates her feelings of being an outsider. There

This article presents a model for thinking about the interrelationship

with peers unlike themselves. Many have little opportunity or reason

4. For example, 17 of the 54 students in our study exhibited different patterns

Vogt, Lynn A., et al.

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